Prank aldrich



(No Model.)

. F. ALDRIOH.

CAR SEAL AND TAG.

No. 535,043. Patented Mar. 5, 1895 "IHM llllllllluiw' H llll W5/tijm* www' " mf VEA/Z0@ WZ/VESELSQM army llirn STATES Arnim muon.

FRANK ALDRIOH, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF FOUR-FIFTHS TO ISAAC N. ALDRIOH AND JAS. P. MAIN, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR SEAL AND TAclw SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 535,043, dated March 5, 1895.

Application tiled December 20, 1 894. Serial No. 532,418. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRANK ALDRICH, a citi- .zen of the United States, residing at Detroit, 1n the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Oar Seals and Tags; and I do hereby declare the following to be a `;"f u'll, clear, and exact description of the invent1on, such as will enable others skilled in the artjto which it appertains `to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingrdrawiugs, which form part of this specification. L i

My inventionrelates to railway car seals and tags, and has for its object to provide a simple and cheap device for the purpose that can be quickly and easily locked upon the car,

and when thus secured cannot be removed either by accident or design except bycutting or breaking it oit from its position on the car doors, and to this end my invention consists in the several details of construction of the seal and tag, and in the peculiar manner of locking it in position on the car as hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: `Figure l represents a plan view of the blank from which the shown in Fig. 4. l, Fig. 6, shows a slightly modified form of my seal and tag; and Fig. 7, represents the male `andfemale dies, the latter in section, of pliers employed to upset the metal of the joined ends of the seal andlock them together.

Similar letters of reference indicatecorre- 'spending parts in each ligure of the drawlngs. i

The blankA consists of a strip `stamped or cut out of any desired kind of suitable metal to form the seal portion a, and D, and the tag portion B integral with each other. The loop blank D is adjacent to the tag B, and between the tag and the tongue a, of the seal and is wider than the tongue as shown in Figs. l and 6, and between the loop and the tag blankthere is a short cross slit o, on each side for the purpose of enabling the lips ol, t-o be turned over upon the body of the blank to form the loop having the groove or recess b, for the reception of the free end of the tongue a, of the seal as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a slightly modified form of my blank for the seal and tag in which the strip is stamped out of the metal so as to form a bulge in width in its longitudinal center to receive the number of the tag to be placed thereon, and there is a loop d, adjacent thereto at one end, and the tongue a, of the seal extending from the other end. In this form of tag and seal, the tongue is inserted in the outer end of the loop d, the same as in the form shown in Fig. 2, leaving the tag B to form a portion of the band which is passed through the staples of the car, and which is out of the way and does not form a projection or flap extending from the seal, which. is more unsightly and sometimes in the way, and this form is preferable, for use in most instances on this account.

Ith as been found a great advantage to make the tags B integral with the seals, as the separate manufacture of the tags is thereby avoided, and the tagsare always at hand when it is desired to use the seal, withoutthe additional care of securing a detached tag to the seal. These tags have consecutive numbers painted thereon or stamped into the metal by means of a die, and are always ready for use in their Vnumerical order. In the form of blank shown in Fig. 2, the numbers are placed upon the tag on thek same side of the blank on which the loop d, is formed; but in the form of blank shown in Fig. 6, the numbers are placed on the tag on the opposite side of the blankfrom the loop in which the tongue a, of the seal is inserted.

O represents the staples on the carinwhich the seal is secured. The free end of the tongue j a, of the seal is preferably somewhat tapered in order that it may be'readily inserted in the recess b, of the loop. i

E and F represent respectively the male and female dies of a pair of bending and punch- IOO ing pliers. On the under side of the male die E there is a conical punch e, formed, which is adapted to enter a perforationf, in the bottom of the female die F. The handles of these pliers, which are not shown, may be pivoted together and are of any ordinary kind in common use.

In applying the seal the free end or tongue a, is passed through the staples C of the car and the end of the tongue inserted in the recess 19,01? the loop and at its most distant end from the tongue. to the opposite end of the loop as shown in Fig. 3. The joint is then placed between the dies E and F of the pliers, when on applying the pressure and forcingthe dies together, the joint portion of the seal will be bent into a U shape and a conical hole will be punched through the several thicknesses of metal in the bottom of the U shaped portion, and the metal displaced by the punch e, will form a burr on the under side or lower surface of the U shaped joint of the seal which will render it absolutely impossible to separate the joined portions thereof and again place them in the same position while the car is en route to its destination. The seal thus effectually secured in position on the car, can only be removed therefrom by cutting, breaking or oth- It is then pushed through erwise mutilating it which would show that the car had been opened.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I cla-im as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A car seal consisting of a strip of metal bulging in Width in its longitudinal center to receive its consecutive tag number and having turned over lips near one end forming a loop for the reception of the other end of the strip to form a joint, said joint portion being bent in a U shaped form to lock the parts together,.as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A car seal consisting of a strip of metal having, near one end turned over lips for the reception of the other end of the strip to form a joint, said joined portions being bent in a U shaped form and having a hole punched through the different layers of metal at the bottom of the U shaped portion to burr the under side thereof, whereby the joined portions are securely locked together, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK ALDRICH.

Witnesses:

J. H. Ross, J. P. MAIN. 

